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Card payments at Albert Heijn and other shops are safe!

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Following reports of IT problems at Albert Heijn and other retail chains, some people are wondering whether it is safe and reliable to pay there with their debit card. The answer is a resounding ‘yes’. Customers have been able to pay as usual with their debit cards throughout, and can continue to do so. Card payments are well protected against any problems affecting retailers’ IT and checkout systems. The card payment infrastructure is securely separated from retailers’ own connected systems, such as tills.

Briefje van supermarkt dat er een cyberbeveiligingsprobleem is maar dat je je boodschappen wel kunt betalen.

Black box

Every payment terminal is a kind of ‘black box’ with a closely guarded gateway. Payment details, card details and entered PINs only pass into and out of a payment terminal in securely encrypted form. Only the black box (the payment terminal) and the cardholder’s bank have the keys needed to encrypt and decrypt this information.

The chip on a payment card contains no personal data, only anonymous codes and card numbers that only the cardholder’s bank can link to that individual. To a payment terminal and a connected till system, every card payment is completely anonymous.

As long as the amount shown on the payment terminal’s screen is correct, everyone can pay anonymously, safely and reliably with their debit card.

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